1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to vehicle seats, and more particularly, to vehicle seats of a so-called "three-occupants type". More specifically, the present invention is concerned with a three-occupants type vehicle seat which is equipped with three sets of seat belt assemblies.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional vehicle seat of the abovementioned type will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.
The vehicle seat 1 comprises a seat portion 1b and a seatback portion 1a and has three, viz., first, second and third seatbelt assemblies. The first and second seatbelt assemblies are of a so-called "three-points type" which comprises a belt 2a having a lower end fixed to a vehicle body and an upper end held by an emergency lock type belt retractor (not shown), a tongue member 3a slidably carried by the belt 2a and a buckle member 4a.sub.1 or 4a.sub.2 connected through a short strap to a rear part of the seat portion 1b. The third seatbelt assembly is of a so-called "two-points type" which comprises a belt 2b having one end anchored to the rear part of the seat portion 1b, a tongue member 3b fixed to the other end of the belt 2b and a buckle member 4b connected through a short strap to the rear part of the seat portion 1b. Although the belt 2b is illustrated to be very short, the same has its elongate major portion hidden behind the seatback portion 1a.
Designated by numeral 5 are three, viz., first, second and third receptacle members which are tightly received in respective recesses formed in a lower center area of the seatback portion 1a. As is seen from FIG. 5 which is a sectional view taken along the line V--V of FIG. 4, each receptacle member 5 is constructed of a moulded plastic and has an opening 5b which faces forward. The receptacle member 5 has two pawls 5a at opposed side wall portions of the opening 5b.
When the seatbelt assemblies are not in use, the buckle members 4a.sub.1, 4a.sub.2 and 4b are snugly put in the receptacle members 5 respectively. With this, the appearance of the seat 1 is somewhat improved. Furthermore, when the buckle members are put in the receptacle members 5, loading of luggages onto the seat portion 1b is facilitated.
However, the above-mentioned vehicle seat 1 has the following drawbacks.
First, providing the seatback portion 1a with the three recesses for the receptacle members 5 is liable to cause considerable lowering in mechanical strength of the seatback portion 1a.
Second, although the three buckle members 4a.sub.1, 4a.sub.2 and 4b are allowed to be neatly put in the respective receptacle members 5, there is no means for receiving or holding the third buckle member 3b. This may interrupt the easy luggage loading onto the seat.